DDB designs Netflix’ next growth spurt

You Gotta Get It, To Get It is an ongoing DDB Canada campaign for Netflix, that began in December 2013 with the TVC Pep Talk. That ad won a Bronze Film Craft Lion at Cannes last month.

And this week, the campaign entered phase two. The TVCs/online films for Netflix are still built around a wry observation about how people use well-known references (in this case scenes and story lines from Netflix movies and television shows) to explain real life events (like a marriage proposal or a medical diagnosis). The new set is cleverer and funnier: everyday life provides better scenarios than football. Each has a 60 second and a 30 second version.

A series of 12 brain-challenging print (and social) executions doesn’t so much extend the campaign as make it. Each is a puzzle – a cryptic illustration designed in its most striking and most aesthetically beautiful form possible, that tempts viewers to guess the movie or television show it depicts.

“Stories you can find on Netflix stay with you anywhere, anytime,” stated Daryl Gardiner, associate creative director, DDB Canada Vancouver. “The campaign’s humorous use of tropes, speaks to existing Netflix subscribers while piquing the curiosity of those who are not familiar with the service.”

Netflix is on a growth spurt through the world. It was responsible for 34% of all peak time internet usage in early 2014. YouTube dropped from more than 18% of peak time data in 2013 to just over 13%. Amazon and Hulu both have less than 2% of total usage. It exceeded its international subscriber forecast for the first three months of 2014, adding 4 million streaming customers globally and ending the period with 48.35 million.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE:

What movies or shows do these tropes depict (answers at bottom)

1. 2.